Charles E. Barber is one of the most well-known American coin designers, best known for his Barber coin series. The series included dimes, quarters, and half dollars. Before Charles created the iconic series, he was born in London in 1840. When he was 12, he moved to America with his father, William Barber, who got a job as an assistant engraver in the U.S. Mint. When he did, the family moved to Philadelphia. William would embark on the same career his son would, becoming engraver at the U.S. Mint and making iconic legal tender coins like the Trade Dollar and the Double Dime (A.K.A. the 20 cent piece).

When Charles was 29 years old, he got his first job at the Mint as assistant engraver in 1869. Charles actually learned the art of engraving from his father William. In 1875, he married his first wife: Martha Jones. He and Martha had a child in 1875 named Anna May, who unfortunately died in 1876 around one year old. In 1879, he designed the Stella, also referred to as the $4 dollar coin, or 400 cents. This coin pattern was designed in 1879-80 and the composition is 85.7% gold, 4.3% silver, and 10% copper. There are also two different kinds of Stella designs.

 

Only 425 Stella coins were made. All 1880 Stella coins are very rare, as only 25 were minted. In 1880, Charles was appointed by President Rutherford B. Hayes, and succeeded his dad as chief engraver after his passing in 1879. During his career, Charles was criticized for his “unimaginative” designs, even though some begged to differ, according to R.W. Julian, he was capable of superb work when given a free hand. All of the coins he designed were a mix of public issues, commemoratives, and international designs. All the coins that he designed included the Barber Series (dimes, quarters, and half dollar), the Liberty Head nickel, the obverse of the Columbian Exposition half dollar, the Lafayette dollar, the Isabella quarter, the Louisiana Purchase Exposition gold dollar, the Lewis and Clark Exposition gold dollar, the obverse of the Panama-Pacific Exposition half dollar, the obverse of the Panama-Pacific Exposition Quarter Eagle, the Pikes Peak Southwest Exposition medal, the obverse of the William Mckinley Memorial gold dollar, the Kingdom of Hawaii 1883 dime, quarter, half dollar, and dollar, the 1897 Szechuan Province of China, and the Cuban 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 40 centavos from 1915-1961. Charles also made some patterns including the Stella coin (the $4 coin), but those were never put into circulation. During his career, Charles was able to design many coins, many of which remain coveted today.

Graded 1916 10 Centavos   

In 1886, Charles had another daughter, Edith (1886-1970). In 1899, his wife Martha died, and, three years later in 1902, he was remarried to Caroline Gaston (1846-1950). During his time working at the Mint, Charles’s assistant was George T. Morgan, designer of the Morgan dollar and other coins. Charles E. Barber and George T. Morgan were actually friends, contrary to popular belief of them being enemies. He was also friends with Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt, even though Theodore looked for coin designers outside the U.S. Mint. Teddy also wanted circulated coins to have a more modern look too. Unfortunately, Charles died after living a good life at the age of 76, on February 18, 1917. He was buried three days later, on February 18, 1917. The day of his funeral he got a special honor: the flags were lowered to half staff at the Philadelphia Mint. Charles is the last Mint official to receive this honor. He was succeeded as Mint engraver by his friend George T. Morgan.

Charles Barber has left his legacy as the creator of the Barber series and more. Some of the coins he designed, like the Liberty nickel, are favorites of many coin collectors and also inexpensive, with the exceptions of key dates and errors, making them affordable for all collectors. His legacy can continue to live on in numismatic collections.

References

“Barber Coin Collectors’ Society”http://www.barbercoins.org/CharlesBarber.shtml
“Wikipedia”https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Barber_(engraver)
“Wikipedia”https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_E.Barber “Wikipedia” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stella(United_States_coin)
“Wikipedia” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_T._Morgan

Author’s Biography

Cameron Djilo is 11 years old. He enjoys coin collecting, baseball card collecting, Pokemon card collecting, video games, sports, board games, and watching YouTube. So far, he hasn’t won any awards yet, but he looks forward to winning an award sometime in the near future.